Espresso Fudge Cupcakes with Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting

Espresso Fudge Cupcakes with Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting

Adapted from this site.

Cupcakes
1 cup flour

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

2 tsp espresso powder

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 cup butter

1 cup sugar

1 tsp vanilla

1 egg

3/4 cup milk

1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Mix flour, cocoa, espresso, baking powder, soda and salt in a bowl. In a separate larger bowl, cream butter and sugar together with mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy. Reduce speed, and add vanilla, egg. Add milk/flour mixture alternating while still mixing. Stir in chocolate chips at the end. Pour into greased cupcake pan or cupcake liners. Bake at 350 for 20 minutes, or until toothpick comes out clean. (If you hit a chocolate chip, your toothpick won't be clean - ha!) Watch these carefully, and adjust if your oven is too hot/too cool. Cool on wire rack.

Frosting

4 oz. cream cheese

1/2 tsp vanilla

2 cups powdered sugar

3 tsp cocoa powder

splash of milk

Mix cream cheese and vanilla at medium speed until creamy. While beating, add sugar, cocoa, milk gradually. Spread on cooled cupcakes with spatula or knife. Top with chocolate chips, coffee beans, shaved chocolate, whatever you like.

Pork Sirloin Tip Roast...and Pumpkin Pie

I wish I could capture smells in a post for you ... because the smells that have filled our apartment tonight have been heavenly - enough to make my paper-writing bearable. And enough to make me forget that we have a pile of dishes to clean up after my culinary adventures. But really... sooo good.

We enjoyed some Pork Sirloin Tip Roast, and are about to enjoy the pumpkin pie that just came out of the oven. Enjoy!

Herb Rubbed Pork Sirloin Tip Roast

1 pork sirloin tip roast

herb rub (see this recipe for a version we tried)

6-8 slices of bacon

Rub the roast all over with the herb rub. Ideally you'd let it sit for a bit, but we couldn't wait. Wrap the roast with the bacon (seals the moisture in, and gives it a great flavor) - secure ends with toothpicks, or wrap with butcher twine - whatever you have. We used toothpicks. Bake in the oven for about 1 hour.

Serve with whatever veggies you like. Unfortunately the brussels sprouts I was saving for this went bad :( so we just had sweet potatoes - oh darn! :) I prepped those just like the butternut squash from the other night. These might have turned out even better than the squash with the spices I chose - nice and crispy on the outside, and soft on the inside.

Here's a glimpse of the goodness that is going to come once it's cooled... (try this recipe).

Easy weeknight pork tenderloin

So this meal has become one of my go-to meals when we don't have a lot of time but still want to eat a healthy and delicious meal. Trader Joe's has packages of pork tenderloin pre-seasoned with garlic and herbs in their meat section. Trader Joe's also has pre-seasoned asparagus in a microwave pack. And you can just pick up a few sweet potatoes while you're at it, and you've got this meal made! This is also a pretty cost effective meal... Did I mention I love Trader Joe's?

Bake the pork tenderloin as directed on the package - ~350 degrees for about 20-30 minutes, depending on the size. Let sit for at least 10 minutes once you take it out of the oven.

While that's in the oven, chop up a few sweet potatoes and boil them. Once they're tender, drain, and mash to desired consistency. Use a food processor for smoother results. Add milk, butter, cinnamon, or other spices/flavorings. These should be done around the same time as your meat.

Follow the directions for microwaving the asparagus - 2 1/2 minutes, and you're done!

ENJOY!! :)

Sauteed Butternut Squash

I first off have to apologize that there will be no photo for this post... but it's for good reason - the butternut squash this post refers to was so quickly snarfed up that that fact alone should speak to how good it was. :)

I sauteed some cubes of butternut squash in butter, some ground ginger and some cinnamon. YUM! It was heavenly - crispy on the outside, and soft and smooth on the inside. Perfect fall dinnerish-snack. Do it. Super easy and delicious!!

Crockpot Pork Chops

Jeff and I decided we would be brave and try cooking pork chops again. We both have never been big fans of pork chops, but because they're so cheap, we wanted to see if there was a way to cook them that we'd enjoy. We found it! The Crockpot wins again... these chops were SO tender - literally falling apart when you cut them with a fork. I've NEVER had a pork chop do that before, and these were sooo easy and very flavorful.

Crockpot Pork Chops
Adapted from Allrecipes.com

6 boneless pork chops

1/4 cup brown sugar

1 teaspoon ground ginger

1/2 cup soy sauce

1/4 cup ketchup

2 cloves garlic, crushed

*I cut the soy sauce to 1/4 cup and added about 1/8-1/4 cup of honey as well.

*I also added some chicken broth to increase the amount of liquid

salt and pepper to taste

Place pork chops in slow cooker. Combine remaining ingredients and pour over pork chops. Make sure that you cover the chops with the sauce - if your crockpot is large like ours, spoon some of the sauce over the chops periodically as they cook to keep them from drying out.

Cook on Low setting for 6 hours, until internal temperature of pork has reached 160 degrees F (70 degrees C).

*Important: brown the pork chops in a pan before putting them in the crockpot - this adds a ton more flavor, and helps seal in the moisture. I didn't do this because we ran out of time, but this is important!!

Chop up some sweet potatoes and toss with olive oil and salt and pepper. Roast on a baking tray in the oven ~350 degrees, for 25-35 minutes, or until tender.

Spiced Honey Lemon Chicken and Sweet Carmelized Brussels Sprouts

Jeff and I celebrated my Grandma's 80th birthday today with the rest of the Berger clan at The Oyster Bar in Bellingham, right on Chuckanut Drive.

We had a great time celebrating with family, and the sun came out just in time to enjoy a beautiful view from the private room in the restaurant.

We came home exhausted and after trying to figure out "what to do" tonight after a failed attempt at finding Dogfish Head's Punkin Beer at Fred Meyer, we settled on making dinner together. Wow! What a great choice - we found ourselves a keeper recipe, from one of my favorite blogs Crepes of Wrath. This truly was a 30-minute meal and super simple to make. Jeff worked on the chicken while I did the brussels sprouts, and it was done in no time!

Spiced Honey Lemon Chicken

Adapted from Crepes of Wrath

2 chicken breasts, pounded to an even thickness (we used chicken thighs and they were fantastic)

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon pepper

4 teaspoons olive oil

1 tablespoon butter, melted

3 tablespoons honey

zest and juice of 1 lemon

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

3/4 teaspoon ground cumin

2 teaspoons paprika

1. Combine all of your ingredients in a small bowl, then pour over the chicken. Allow to marinate for at least 1 hour in the fridge, but you can marinate the chicken for 24 hours, and longer is better!

2. You can either grill or broil the chicken. To grill, preheat the grill to medium-high heat and grill over high heat for 3 minutes on each side, then over indirect heat for 5 minutes on each side. To broil, heat the oven to 400 degrees F and cook for 10-15 minutes on each side, until cooked through and the juices run clear.

Sweet Caramelized Brussels Sprouts

6 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided into 3 tablespoons

1 onion, thinly sliced (my quick tip: get the bag of pre-chopped onions from Trader Joe's - cuts down on time and weepy eyes!)

kosher salt

2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar

4 teaspoons sugar

1 1/2 pounds brussels sprouts, quartered (another Trader Joe's quick tip: get the bag of "microwaveable" brussels sprouts, because they are already washed and prepped - all you have to do is a quick chop!)

3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

1/2 cup water

4 slices of bacon, sliced into 1-inch pieces and cooked until crispy (we didn't have bacon, but that would only make this recipe even better!!!)

1. Melt 3 tablespoons butter in medium skillet over medium heat. Add the onions and sprinkle lightly with kosher salt and pepper. Sauté until soft and golden, about 10 minutes. Add the combined vinegar and sugar. Stir until brown and glazed, about 3 minutes.

2. Quarter the brussels sprouts length wise. Heat the olive oil in large skillet over medium-high heat. Add in the brussels sprouts and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Sauté until brown at edges, 6 minutes. Add 1/2 cup water and 3 tablespoons butter. Sauté until most of water evaporates and sprouts are tender but still bright green, 3 minutes. Mix in the cooked, crispy bacon and serve and top with the onions. When you eat them, mix the onions in with the sprouts so you get a little bit of everything in each bite. Serves 3-4.

Epic Ales Brewery visit

So Jeff and I are excited to keep trying all of the many, many breweries in the Seattle area - at the same time as being embarrassed about how many we haven't tried!! I listed several we want to try a few months ago in this post.

Recently, we visited Epic Ales brewery in SODO with some friends from my program. We showed up on a Friday evening, and were greeted by a TINY tasting room, but it felt really intimate and friendly. The owner and brewmaster was behind the counter and immediately offered some of his crazy beers for us to try (in 8 oz. samplers, mind you!) - Wow!

We had one brewed with the Mexican spice "epazote" and it tasted spicy, earthy, and peppery - really unique, and would have been great paired with a nice Mexican meal. The last beer we tried was called the Solar Trans Amplifier. It was light and summery, and by far the most unique and complex of the 3 we tried. It's brewed with ginger and cammomile! You can imagine how interesting it tasted! Yum.

After we tasted these beers, we made the trek back up into downtown for dinner at Pike Place Brewery & Pub. One of our favorite places to eat and drink in Seattle. I had the Scotch ale (Kilt Lifter) as usual, and Jeff enjoyed his favorite "Monk's Uncle" Tripel Ale.